• Diving can be very exhilarating and exploring under the sea is fun and challenging; however, it can also be dangerous. As such, dives should be planned. Diving planners include tables and charts to help the diver determine decompression stops and times during ascent to avoid decompression sickness. A good, experienced diver never skips planning. Remember that an accident while diving can prove fatal. For those divers who do not like the traditional charts and tables, alternatives can be used.
  
  

Dive Computer

• Use a dive computer to monitor your dive. Unlike a table, it does not assume you will descend to one level and stay there. It can dynamically calculate the real profile of the depth you are diving over the time period you are underwater. Moreover, dive computers fit on your wrist, much like a watch, making them convenient and easy to use. But like any electronic device, a dive computer can fail. So it is always a good idea to have a general back-up plan, or notion as to when you should surface and at what rate of ascent.
  
  

Decompression Software

• Purchase decompression software. Some developers include DecoPlanner and GAP. These products use decompression algorithms to simulate the decompression requirements using different dive profiles with different gas mixtures. Another software package is V-Planner, which allows you to customize deep and extended stops, as well as control stop times and air breaks. V-Planner is available for use with PCs, Macs, Linux systems, Mobile, iPod, iPhone, and the X1 dive computer. V-Planner and DecoPlanner both incorporate bubble modeling in their algorithms. With GAP software, the platforms are either Windows or Pocket PC.
  
  

Ratio Deco

• For a simplified method to determine a decompression profile, without using tables or computers, employ a method called ratio deco. This technique is taught in advanced diving courses held by GUE (Global Underwater Explorers) instructors. The ratio deco method utilizes a known set point of decompression obligation as it relates to a specific depth and bottom time. The required time for decompression changes in set increments which are relative to the set point with variations in diving depth or time spent at the bottom
  
  

Dive Planner for iPhone

• Dive planner for your iPhone is a simplified, electronic dive table. Its design has easy to use vertical sliders for setting your dive parameters. Then, the information for decompression can be found in easy to read boxes in which your dive will categorized into a pressure group, which is a representation of the amount of nitrogen in your bloodstream when you begin your dive. As you manipulate the various slides, the pressure group changes to reflect your current status. With a few finger drags, the work of reading a table is done for you. But as with the computer, remember it is an electronic device and keeping a set of old-fashioned tables around may come in handy.